Freezing tray



Sept. 25, 1956 E. H. ROBERTS FREEZING TRAY' Filed oct. 28, 1955 nv en orEdward H. Roberts His Attorney..

United States Patent O FREEZING TRAY Edward H. Roberts, Erie, Pa.,assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New YorkApplication October 28, 1953, Serial No. 388,757

1 Claim. (Cl. 62-108.5)

My invention relates to ice freezing trays for use in householdrefrigerators and more particularly to devices for releasing ice cubesfrom such trays.

It is a primary object of my invention to provide new and improved meansboth for dividing an ice tray into a plurality of compartments and forreadily freeing ice cubes from the compartments.

Another object of my invention is to provide an ice cube releasingdevice through which all the ice cubes in an ice tray are released atthe same time as the result of a single operation.

My invention also has as its object the provision of ice cube freeingdevice which is very simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

In carrying my invention into elect I provide a lever actuated ice cubeforming and releasing device in which the ice cubes are frozen in a trayhaving a floor and upstanding side and end Walls. In this tray Iposition a plurality of longitudinally resilient undulated elementswhich cooperate to form a plurality of ice cube compartments. At theirone ends these undulated elements are provided with means for detachablysecuring them to the tray. At their other ends the undulated elementsare secured together and are provided with pivot means for pivotallyattaching a lever thereto. Through the use of the lever an outward forcemay be applied to the ends of the undulated elements at which it isattached. Since the other ends of the elements are secured to the tray,the result is that the undulated elements are first tilted upwardly andthen stretched somewhat, whereby the ice cubes are freed both from thetray and from the elements themselves.

The novel features which I believe to be characteristic of my inventionare set forth Withparticularity in the appended claims. My invention,however, both as to its organization and method of operation may be bestunderstood by reference to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a top view, partially broken away, of a preferred embodimentof my new and improved ice cube forming and releasing means;

Fig. 2 is a side View partially in section of the device shown in Fig.l;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view from the side illustrating the method ofreleasing ice cubes from the device;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary top view showing the device after the ice cubeshave been freed from the container sides; and

' Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the diagram, I have shown therein, as illustrative ofmy invention, an ice cube forming and releasing device including an icetray 1 which is provided with a loor 2, side Walls 3 and 4, and endWalls 5 and 6. The end walls 5 and 6 are respectively provided at theirupper edges with outstanding ilanges 7 and 8 for a purpose to beexplained hereinafter.

Positioned within the tray and extending between the 2,763,997 PatentedSept. 25, 1956 ICC end walls are a plurality of undulated elements 9,10, 11, and 12. These undulated elements have crests, as for example thecrests 13 and 14 on element 9 and the crests 15 and 16 on element 10,which cooperate to deline essentially separate compartments Withintray 1. Moreover, the outer two elements 9 and 12 have outwardlyextending crests, as for example the crests 17 and 18 on element 12,which cooperate with the tray side walls to form essentially separatecompartments. In the illustrated device the undulated elements arezigzag in conguration so that the compartments lying between adjacentelements are diamond shaped while the compartments lying between theoutside elements and the tray walls are triangular shaped.

ln any case, Whether the undulated elements be of the illustrated zigzagconfiguration or of some smoother wave form, they are designed to belongitudinally resilient. That is, the undulated elements are capable ofbeing stretched or expanded slightly along the axis of their greatestlength without being deformed. Each element in effect acts as a springtending to return to a stable position after slight stretching. Theelements can of course be formed of any suitable resilient material suchas sheet metals, various plastic materials, rubber, etc.

At their ends adjacent end wall 5 the undulated ele ments are`detachably secured to the tray. In the illustrated embodiment the meansfor providing this separable attachment comprises a rigid L-shapedmember 19 which is secured to elements 9 and 10 by means of a rivet 20and to elements 11 and 12 by a similar rivet 21. A pair of spaceddepending ears 23 and 24 are provided on a horizontal body portion 25 ofmember 19 to accommodate these rivets. The body portion 25 extends fromears 23 and 24 across the top of the ange 7 provided on end wall 5, andat its outer end it is provided with a bent down ange or lip 26. As willbe later described, this lip supplies actual contact whereby member 19and thus the undulated elements are detachably secured to the tray.

Preferably, as shown, the distance between ears 23 and 24 and dependinglip 26 is slightly greater than the width of flange 7 so that a slightplay is possible between mehr ber 19 and the ilange. But it should beunderstood that such play is not absolutely necessary to the operationof my device and a much tighter fit could be used between member 19 andflange 7. Moreover, the undulated elements need not be necessarilyattached to the tray by an L shaped member. Any securing means whichwill allow some pivotal movement of the elements relative to the traylloor may be used with success.

In order to free the ice cubes from the various compartments formed inthe tray, the undulated elements are provided at their ends remote frommember 19 with a means for pivotally attaching an actuating member 27.In the illustrated embodiment, these attaching means are such that theactuating member is permanently secured to the undulated elements, butit should be understood that I also contemplate providing means wherebythe actuating member may be readily detached from the undulated elements. With this later mounting, a single actuating merri-` ber could,of course, be used to operate any number of my new and improved ice cubereleasing devices.

In the illustrated device the actuating member consists of a handle orlever 27 which is mounted on the undulated' elements by means of headedpins 28 and 29, a pair of depending ears 30 and 31 being provided on thehandle to accommodate the' pins. In addition to mounting handle 27, pins28 and 29 also serve to secure together the undulated elementsthemselves, pin 28 joining elements 9 and 1t) and pin 29 joiningelements 11 and 12. Since pins 28 and 29 are headed outwardly of ears30` and 31, vhandle 27 is permanently secured thereon, but it is obviousthat a construction could be provided whereby the handle would bereadily removable. For example, the depending ears 30 and 31 could beprovided with slots rather than being apertured to accommodate the pins,which arrangement would allow the ears to be slid olf the pins. Or elsethe pins could be provided with a flange inwardly of the ears instead ofbeing headed outwardly thereof so that the ears couldbe sprung on andoff the pms.

As may be seen in the diagrams, the actuating handle or lever 27 extendsin both directions from the pivot pins both rearwardly toward the endwall 5 and forwardly over end wall 6 and flange 8 thereof. outwardly ofthe flange 8, the lever is provided with a down-turned or depending lip32 which extends downwardly to a point somewhat below the lower surfaceof flange 8. In addition to down-turned lip 32, lever 27 is furtherprovided along its sides with down-turned flanges 33 and 34 in orde-r tostrengthen the lever during use. At the point where flanges 33 and 34would join lip 32, they are provided with similar grooves, only one ofwhich, the groove 35 in flange 33, is shown. These grooves are adaptedto engage the outer edge of flange 8 during operation of the lever butthey are, however, not absolutely essential to proper operation of thedevice and may be omitted if desired.

In operation, tray 1 is tilled with water and then placed in a freezingcompartment and the water frozen. Since the adjacent crests of theundulated elements, as for example crests V13 and 15, do not necessarilytouch and since the outside cre-sts as for example crest 17, do nottouch the side walls of the tray, therefore, the water freezes into onebig block of ice, the various segments or cubes of which are joinedtogether by very thin strips or necks. The manner in which the variouscubes within the tray are joined together may be very well seen in bothFigs. 1

and 5. Thus, for example, a thin neck of ice 36 extends between crest 17and side wall 3 to join the ice blocks or cubes 37 and 38 which lie onopposite sides of the crest; and a similar although somewhat narrowerstrip of ice 39 extends between the crests 14 and 16 to join the icecubes 40 and 41 lying on the opposite sides of those crests.

To free the entireice block from the tray and to detach the variousblocks or cubes one from another is a very simple process. Assuminglever 27 is attached to the undulated elements either by the permanentpivot means shown or else by some detachable pivot means, the housewifemerely pulls the left-hand end of the handle 27 (as viewed in Figs. 2and 3) upwardly, causing it to turn on its pivotal mounting. As itturns,the depending l-ip 32 engages the outer edge of ange S and applies aforce tending to move the undulated elements and thereby the iceblockformed around them both upwardly and toward the right-hand end ofthe ice tray (as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2). The aforesaid play betweenthe edge of llangc 7 and lip 26 of member 19 allows the elements and theice block to move slightly toward end wall 6. And thus the combinationlifting and translating force causes the entire ice block to break freeof the bottom and sides of the tray as shown by the dotted lines in Fig.4.

After the entire ice block breaks free from the tray, the housewifecontinues to turn lever 27 until the grooves, such as groove 35, lyingbetween lip 32 and side anges 33 and 34 tit over the edge of flange 8,or if such grooves are not included in the handle, until the creasesbetween lip 32 andanges 33and 34 fit over the flange. About this timethe play between member 19 and dange 7 has been used up, so that it isimpossible for the ice block to be translated any further to the right.Therefore, as movement of the handle is continued, a stretching force isapplied to the undulated elements. The elements then expand or stretchslightly vunder this force and tend to pull each separate ice blocksomewhat toward the right. The result of these stretching forces is thatthe thin necks of ice, as for example necks 36 and 39, are broken apart,and separate cubes are formed. Moreover, the various segments of theundulated elements pull away from the ice blocks or cubes so that theice cubes are effectively freed therefrom.

The actuating force from handle or lever 27 is thereupon terminatedallowing the undulated elements to spring back to their originalconguration. Then the resilient grid structure formed by the undulatedelements is lifted from the tray and the separate loosened cubes dropaway from the grid and remain in the tray. The ice cubes are thuscompletely separated and freed both from the tray and the grid, and mayconsequently be easily removed for use.

Since during the ice cube freeing process there are two elements actingou each of the center or diamond shaped cubes, there is little danger ofthe center elements 1t? and 11 becoming sprung as a result of theprocess. However, on the outer or triangular shaped cubes only oneundulated element, either element 9 or element 12, supplies any force;and therefore, there might be some danger that these outer elementswould become sprung. 'l'o guard against this possibility, each of thevarious angled segments of these two outer elements is provided with adiagonal strengthening crease. These creases may be best seen in Figs. 1and 2, where, for example, the creases 42 and 43 provided respectivelyon the segments 44 and 45 of element 12 are very clearly shown. Thesecreases provide additional resilience in the outside elements 9 and 12and insure that no permanent deformation will occur during the ice cubereleasing process.

ln summation, by my invention l have provided a new and improved devicewhereby all the ice cubes in an ice tray may be quickly and effectivelyremoved therefrom by a single mechanical operation. By employing aplurality of longitudinally resilient undulated elements to divide anice tray into compartments and by utilizing the same elements to freethe cubes formed therebetween, I have provided a structure which issimple and inexpensive to manufacture and which is foolproof inoperation. With respect to these undulated elements, it should beunderstood that my invention is not limited to the particularillustrated zigzag elements. Nor is it restricted to the exact structuredescribed above for securing the elements to the tray at their one endsand for applying a force to them at their other ends. Clearly, variousother attaching and actuating means could be used without appreciablyaffecting the results secured.

Thus, while in accordance with the patent statutes l have described whatis considered to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it shouldbe obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications may be made therein without departing from the inventionand it is, therefore, aimed in the appended claims to cover all suchchanges and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of myinvention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

In combination, an ice tray having a floor and upstanding side and endWalls, with said end walls being provided with outwardly extendingflanges, a plurality of longitudinally.resilient zigzag elementspositioned in said tnay land cooperating to form ice cube pocketstherein,

'saidielements extending between said end walls and normally resting onsaid door and adjacent of said elements having alternately spaced apartand adjacent peaks where- `by said pockets are formed between saidelements, said elements adjacent said side walls of said ice tray havinga diagonal strengthening crease upon cach of the angled segments betweensaid alternate peaks, a rigid member attached 'to said zigzag elementsat their one ends and adapted to engage one of said anges to detachablysecure said elements to the associated of said end walls, a leverpivotally mounted on said undulated elements at their other ends, and adown-turned lip formed on said lever and adapted to engage the other ofsaid flanges upon a movement of said lever, thereby to free said icecubes from said pockets by both tilting and stretching said elements.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 i.Lutz May 24, 1938 Saler Sept. 19, 1939 Saler Nov. S, 1940 Crowley Sept.9, 1941 Mallard Oct. 10, 1944 Steenstrup Nov. 7, 1944 Reeves Aug. 8,1950

